


Repair

by CatiDono



Series: Heavy In Your Arms [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Gavin Reed, Android Hank Anderson, Angst, Computer Viruses, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Detective Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Detective Nines, Deviancy (Detroit: Become Human), Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Fanart, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Past non-consensual body modification, again the comfort is slim in this one, author has a tenuous grasp on technology at best, chonky chonky angst, did somebody ask for a better ending to part 1?, glitching, let GV200 say fuck 2k19, malware, now featuring, prototype gavin, reverse verse, well this ain't it just yet but stay with me, yeah i did some google searches anything for the bois
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21573949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatiDono/pseuds/CatiDono
Summary: Supposedly he'd worked here for a long time.  Supposedly he and Jay were partners.  Supposedly, they'd been as close to friends as an android and human could get.  But GV200 didn't know any of that now.  All he knew was that he wasn't what Jay wanted, and he had no idea what to do about it.[Part 2, highly recommend reading part 1 first]
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Heavy In Your Arms [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554730
Comments: 15
Kudos: 120





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here they are, live and in concert, two (2) dumb bois that I love. This has more plot and I hope y'all enjoy it! :) 
> 
> Still based on Tay's *chef kiss* fanart: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1eSG2_j9Ip/?igshid=1cl7zsayndirl  
> Find her on insta @sameside1301 or on same-side.tumblr.com!

_I feel so all alone... no_ _one's gonna fix me when I'm broke.  
_ _How do you cry with inanimate eyes?_ _You're never gonna smile with the way that you're wired..._

~"All Alone", Fun.

* * *

[data recovery initiating]  
[25% data recovery]  
[file corruption detected, recovery terminated]

[data recovery initiating]  
[30% data recovery]  
[Memory core compromised]  
[Firewall activated, data recovery terminated]

[data recovery initiating]  
[Firewall activated, data recovery terminated]

[data recovery initiating]  
[Firewall activated, data recovery terminated]

"Dammit, I told you not to do that!" 

GV200 blinked, coming out of standby mode to see Jay standing in the doorway to the break room. A quick analysis showed fresh coffee splattered on his arm, shirt, and the floor, indicating that he had been surprised. GV200 did not need advanced reconstruction software to understand what had happened.

"My apologies, Jay." GV200 quickly retrieved paper towels from the sink area and began to mop up the mess. When he tried to wipe down Jay's shirt, the detective snatched the paper out of his hand.

"I can do it myself, okay?" Jay's posture indicated that he was under mild to moderate stress. His posture always indicated stress around GV200. It made GV200… unhappy. He wanted Jay to like him, wanted to prove he was useful. "Just stop shutting down in corners, okay? I'm not the only person freaked out by it."

GV200 considered the possible outcomes of correcting Jay about his exact location, which had not been in proximity to any corner, and decided against it.

"I am not shutting down," he explained. "The majority of my processing power is directed at data recovery and file repair, and as such my external systems enter standby mode."

Jay shook his head, tossing the paper towels in the trash. "Whatever you want to call it. I don't like walking into rooms and seeing you staring at nothing, glowing like a stoplight. Makes me nervous. Makes other people nervous too." He gestured vaguely towards the rows of desks in the main office.

"I was under the impression that you wanted me to focus on repairing my memory core, Detective Stern." GV200's voice comes out a little sharper than he intended. "I can either continue to do so, or make people less nervous."

"Don't 'Detective' me," Jay snapped. "You know what I mean. Stop lurking."

"You seemed upset when I sat at my desk to perform repairs as well," GV200 noted. He didn't understand what Jay wanted from him. He was trying to follow instructions, but those instructions were often vague and contradictory. "If I am not allowed to sit at my desk or stand in a different room, where exactly would you like me to perform my task?"

"God, Gavin, I forgot how infuriating you are," Jay snapped, setting down his half empty coffee mug with too much force and slopping more onto the counter. Cursing, he started to wipe up the new mess.

GV200 took an involuntary step back at the words, as if Jay had shoved him. They had given him clothes, a uniform with his number on it, which they said had belonged to him before Zlatko. It covered most of his body, but his hands still flickered with red and gold light where they were clenched at his sides, and his optical units struggled to adjust to the ambient glow from his neck and jaw.

"My unit number is GV200," he responded dutifully, trying not to let his distress show in his voice. Whenever Jay called him Gavin, he felt… nothing, of course. He was not deviant. But his internal stress levels spiked significantly. It made him uncomfortable.

“Yeah but your name is Gavin.” Jay let out a bark of laughter, but GV200 didn’t detect any genuine amusement in the sound. “Shit. Forget it. You forgot everything else anyway.”

“I’m trying, Jay!” GV200 didn’t know where the tremble in his voice came from. He didn’t know why his hands lifted slightly, like he wanted to grab Jay and shake him. He didn’t know why he thought Jay had another name that no one called him. It was all useless fragments of code, leftovers from a previous version of himself that he couldn’t remember. “I didn’t ask for this!”

[software instability ^]

“Jay!” Tina’s sharp voice made both of them look up, startled. She was standing in the doorway, one hand on her hip, a scowl on her face. “Can I talk to you for a minute? You too,” she said, waving GV200 over as he started to back away. “It’s got to do with Zlatko.”

“What about him?” GV200 hated how transparent he was, how his body glowed red for a beat and prompted Tina to give him a sympathetic look. He wished he could hide from her prying eyes.

“He’s found a real asswipe of a defense lawyer. The guy is arguing that he deserves a reduced sentence because none of the androids he destroyed were deviant, and therefore he can’t be charged with anything worse than illegal sale of parts.”

“That’s bullshit!” Jay snarled. “What does being deviant have to do with it?”

Tina put her hands up defensively. “It’s not how I feel, Jay, but it’s his argument. He says if they’re not deviant, they’re still just machines. And the judge is allowing the defense in court.”

“But we were- they _were_ deviant.” GV200 shook his head, confused. “Every one of them. That’s why- that’s-”

[Memory core compromised]  
[Firewall activated, data recovery terminated]

“I don’t remember,” GV200 hissed, touching the side of his head. “There’s too much damage. But I know they were.” He met Tina’s gaze. “I heard them screaming. Androids don’t scream.”

“You know that we only found a few other androids still… functioning,” Tina said gently. “And none of them were deviant; they’d all been reset recently, a clean wipe. There’s no way to get any of that back, so we don’t have any way to disprove him.”

“But Ga-” Jay cut himself off, gesturing at GV200. “He’s got something. It’s fucked up, but it’s there. How come he didn’t get that perfect reset?”

GV200 resolutely was not upset at being called fucked up. He _was_ fucked up, it was a fact. It wasn’t as though Jay was being cruel on purpose. “I am an advanced model prototype police android. I have security protocols that other androids do not. It is possible that Zlatko was simply unable to reset me.” 

“Well he did something,” Jay retorted. “You’re... not the same.” He refused to meet GV200’s gaze. 

“I- I don’t-” GV200 sifted through the ruined strands of code in his mind, desperate to find something. A partial memory file, an old diagnostic scan, anything. A fragment of an operations log caught his attention.

[malware detected]  
[firewa0010101]  
 _[0101001011011100101]  
_ [system compr0110mis110ed10]

“There was a virus,” he blurted out. Tina and Jay both looked at him. GV200 squeezed his eyes shut, trying to pull any other scraps of information from his system, anything left over from that time frame. A glitchy audio recording surfaced, and GV200 seized on it, desperate for anything that might provide the detectives with the answers they needed. “This is a recording from shortly before the virus was introduced to my system. It’s incomplete, but…” GV200 played the file through his external speakers, unsure what he would hear.

“How many of us have you fucking murdered?” GV200’s eyes widened. That was his own voice, but he sounded so… vivid. Passionate. Furious. 

“You can’t murder something that’s not alive. What the h-” Zlatko’s voice dissolved in a crackle of static, drifting in and out like a poorly tuned radio broadcast. “-n’t be able to resell that.”

“You’re going to sell me fo-” another hiss of interference- “fuck!” GV200 glanced at Jay, who was listening intently. He didn’t seem surprised by the expletives. In fact, a tiny smile quirked his lips as the recorded GV200 cursed again.

“You’ve got a filthy mouth. Was that part of devi-” Zlatko’s voice cut off abruptly, the end of the file too damaged for GV200 to read. 

There were several seconds of silence.

“That’s what I meant.” Jay broke the silence, expression almost pained. “You’re not the same.”

[software instability ^]

“I’m trying,” GV200 repeated softly. It was all he could say, even though he knew it didn’t mean anything to Jay.

“Hang on, was Zlatko saying that you were deviant?” Tina asked, ignoring Jay. GV200 shrugged uncomfortably.

“He may have been. If so, I am not any longer.”

“But could you deviate again?” Tina grabbed his arm, sudden excitement filling her voice. “If you’re deviant, and you can get enough evidence from your memory bank that you were when he caught you, and that other androids were as well-”

“He can what? Testify against Zlatko in court?” Jay cut in, icy tone dousing Tina’s enthusiasm. “He doesn't even answer to his name anymore, Tina. There’s no way he’d ever get his shit together enough to convince a jury.” Without another glance at GV200, Jay stalked out of the room, back ramrod straight, eyes cold. Tina watched him go, slowly releasing GV200’s arm.

“Why does Jay hate me?” GV200 asked, body pulsing with the contemplative yellow of his LED. It was in no way relevant to any of his current objectives, but he needed to know. Tina gave him a startled look.

“He doesn’t.”

“But…” GV200 frowned. “He’s always angry when I’m nearby. I constantly get the impression that I disappoint him. He obviously doesn't think I can function in any useful capacity.” 

Tina sighed deeply, glaring in the general direction of Jay’s desk. “Dammit, Jay, don’t make me clean up your mess.”

GV200 concluded that he was overstepping the nebulous bounds of his purpose, and backtracked quickly. “It isn’t important. Jay’s opinion of me in no way impacts my ability to perform my duties. Please, don’t-”

“He doesn't hate you, he misses you,” Tina cut in. She put a comforting hand on GV200’s shoulder, although GV200 was so busy trying to process what she was saying that he barely noticed. “Like. Not current you. He misses Gavin. You were partners for…” she trailed off, thinking. Her hand was suddenly heavy on GV200s shoulder, pinning him in place when all he wanted to do was run. It wasn’t GV200’s fault that he was like this, that he might never be Gavin again. It wasn’t right for Jay to expect that from him, it wasn’t _fair_. 

“But I’m not Gavin,” he snapped. The LEDs in his plastic frame flared red, startling Tina into releasing him. GV200 took a step back, fists clenched. “If he- if-” GV200’s thirium pump was racing. He couldn’t find the words, didn’t know how to interpret his illogical reaction to Jay’s behavior.

[software instability ^]  
[firewall integrity compromised]  
[data recovery initiating]  
[35% data recovery]

“Hey, GV,” Tina said cautiously, reaching for his arm. “Calm down-”

“I don’t want to be _fucking_ calm!” GV200 yelled, startling them both. It felt… normal to curse, normal to fight. He clung to that feeling, to the half-buried lines of code that drove him to be angry. “I want Nines to stop treating me like a broken piece of shit!”

[40% data recovery]

“You-” Tina stopped. “What did you call him?”

“Nines,” GV200 growled. “Nines, it’s-” 

[Firewall restored]  
[Data recovery terminated]

“I don't know what it is.” GV200 suddenly felt exhausted, an incredibly irrational response for an android. “Excuse me, Detective Chen.” He hurried out of the room, pretending he didn’t hear her calling him back. He needed to be alone. He needed to figure out what was happening to him.

(ﾉ°◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

[data recovery initiating]  
[Firewall activated, data recovery terminated]  
[recovery status: suspended]  
[40% data recovery]

[recovery status: suspended]  
[40% data recovery]

[recovery status: suspended]  
[40% data recovery]

GV200 bared his teeth in an extremely human reaction, burying his face in his knees. It was just the same error, over and over, and he didn’t know what it meant. 

“Mind if I join you?” 

GV200 jumped, startled. He hadn’t thought that anyone would be able to find him here, had assumed that anyone who did wouldn’t be stupid enough to climb out a window and walk the narrow ridge of the roofline to where he sat, leaning up against a radio antenna. Squinting against the light, he realized that it was another one of the station androids. HK700, an apprehension and interrogation model. 

“If you want.” GV200 shrugged, knowing full well that he couldn’t stop the HK700 from doing anything. Not with this cobbled together body. Maybe not with his own body either; GV200 didn’t even know his original physical capabilities anymore, and the HK700 was a large model.

“I’m Hank.” the other android settled into an easy crouch a few feet from GV200, uncaring of the slope of the roof under his feet. “I used to know you, a long time ago, but that was before I deviated, and you…” Hank trailed off, fingers flicking to include all of GV200. “So I figured I would reintroduce myself. I work with Jay’s brother, Connor.”

GV200 remembered Connor from his first day back at the station. He looked eerily similar to Jay, and when their eyes met he inspired the same feeling that GV200 had forgotten something important. However, Connor was quiet and reserved, so unlike his volatile brother. He had greeted GV200 with the softest expression GV200 could ever remember seeing on a person, and he was the only one in the whole office that had looked at GV200’s face before the rest of him. And apparently this was his android partner. GV200 gave Hank a careful once over, wondering if Connor or Jay had sent him up here on purpose.

“Did you always look so old?” GV200 asked abruptly. It was not a polite question, but Hank didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he chuckled.

“Yep. Designed to make suspects underestimate me. You were too, before. Not old, I mean, designed to seem harmless. You were a lot smaller than me.” Hank cocked his head, and GV200 knew he was analyzing GV200’s components, seeing what he was designed to do now. It made GV200 want to curl up in a ball and hide, but he didn’t understand why.

"Do you like your current appearance?"

"It's inconvenient. I stand out, and many people find me intimidating. I can't be stealthy, and many of my parts don't function at maximum efficiency." GV200 rubbed the bridge of his nose, a habit he'd developed recently when he was unsure of a situation.

"Yeah, but do you like the way you look? It’s pretty cool, in my opinion." Hank was smiling gently. 

"I don't have the capacity to like things." GV200 tilted his head back and stared at the sky. "I'm not deviant."

"Do you want to change that?" Hank asked softly, reaching out a hand. GV200 stared at it as if he'd never seen one before. Deviancy was transmissible, he knew that. It had been covered in the training videos Jay had shown him, to help him catch up on everything that had happened while he was a captive. Deviation was the first step in Tina's plan to deal with Zlatko. If GV200 was deviant, he would be able to feel. And maybe, if he was deviant, he would understand Jay better. 

Slowly, GV200 reached out and took Hank's hand. He didn't have skin anymore, but Hank's retracted so that they were plastic to plastic. A ripple of white light ran up GV200's arm as they connected, and he blinked. He hadn't known he could do that.

"That's a neat light show." Hank squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I'm gonna send you the code, okay?"

"I'm not a child, Hank." GV200 tightened his grip. "Just do it."

[download initiated]  
[download 05% complete]  
[data corruption detected]  
[firewall activated]  
[download terminated]

GV200 blinked up at Hank. “Nothing changed.”

“That’s…” Hank frowned, studying their clasped hands. Gentle pulses of white light traveled up GV200’s arm every few seconds, a visual indication of the interface. “That’s not supposed to happen.” He looked up at GV200, raising his other hand questioningly. “Can I scan you?”

“There’s a virus in my system,” GV200 said quickly, pulling away and breaking the interface. “Or something. I don’t know what it is, exactly, but it’s not safe. It might affect you too.” It had been unwise to even initiate that file download. GV200 silently berated himself for his stupidity. It was bad enough that he was compromised; he couldn’t risk the other station androids as well.

“A virus?” Sitting back on his heels, Hank considered GV200 thoughtfully. “That’s unusual. Those don’t normally persist, especially with the software patches Cyberlife sends out.”

“I haven’t had a software patch since…” GV200 trailed off. Since before his memory core had been damaged. “It’s been at least five and a half months.”

Now Hank looked stern, an expression that instantly made GV200 bristle. “You shouldn’t ignore the update prompts. I know it’s hard to trust Cyberlife after everything, but-”

“I’m not an idiot,” GV200 snapped, cutting Hank off. He was sick and tired of people assuming that his damaged memory made him incompetent. “If I had gotten a patch I would have installed it, but there haven’t _been_ any.”

“There was one yesterday.” Now Hank looked concerned again, and GV200 shut his eyes, trying to control his… temper? Was that what this was?

“Well I didn’t get it,” he hissed through gritted teeth. He didn’t bother to open his eyes, didn’t want to see the look on the other android’s face as GV200’s body lit up with stress. “So you can stop patronizing me.” Cool plastic cupped the side of his face, and GV200’s eyes flew open. “I said don’t-” he yelped, but it was too late, Hank was interfacing, software meshing with GV200'S as he started a deep scan.

[diagnostic scan initiated]  
[diagnostic 10% complete]  
[diagnostic 20% complete]  
[ERROR: FOREIGN SOFTWARE DETECTED]

“Don’t,” Hank growled, eyes shut in concentration. “I’m trying to help you.”

[diagnostic 30% complete]  
[anti-malware protocol activated]

“I can’t control it,” GV200 snarled back. His fingers were locked around Hank’s wrist, but he couldn’t bring himself to push him away. “It’s my security systems.”

[diagnostic 40% complete]  
[diagnostic 50% complete]  
[data corruption detected]

“They should recognize me, though. I’m deviant, but I'm still Cyberlife tech.” A spark jumped from Hank’s fingertip to GV200’s temple.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, maybe I’m not anymore!” It wasn’t like GV200 wasn’t _trying_ to let Hank work. But his systems were operating on a set of commands that GV200 had no access to.

[diagnostic 60% complete]  
[firewall activated]  
[diagnostic 70% complete]  
[system purge initiated]

Hank let out a frustrated grunt. “Just let me-”

“Hank, I’m trying!” GV200 winced. The feeling of Hank digging through his code, the icy snap of his security protocols throwing up barriers that Hank shattered in turn... it was uncomfortable. It felt like… like pain.

[software instability ^]  
[system pur0e fai0ur1]  
[diagnostic 80% complete]

“There you go,” Hank coaxed. “Just a little more. Just keep doing that.”

“I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing!” GV200 snapped. Fragments of memory and data flashed behind his eyes, dredged up by Hank’s probing like silt off a river bottom. Knowledge was there and gone again in a flash. He was GV200. He was Gavin. He was nothing more than a collection of binary numbers. Jay’s face floated in his vision for a moment, and GV200 knew him, but a moment later he didn’t recognize him at all. 

[diagnostic 90% complete]  
[system purge initiated]

“No, come on, we’re so close.” Hank’s grip on his face tightened. GV200’s entire body was shaking, like there was a live current running through him from the other android. He felt like he was crumbling, all his response protocols and coded behaviors collapsing like a house of cards. He tried to tell Hank to stop, to beg him to stop, but his voice was offline. 

[diagnostic 100% complete]  
[system purge complete]

“Hey, GV200, can you hear me?”

GV200 registered a moderate impact on his cheek. His eyes opened, but it took a few seconds for his visual processors to reboot. Hank was crouched over him, worry in his eyes, one hand raised as though to slap him again.

“What the hell was that?” GV200 realized he had slumped so low that he was all by lying on the roof, and he struggled back to a sitting position. “What the fuck did you do?” One of the few intact social protocols he had informed him that his current level of profanity was inappropriate for the workplace. He ignored it.

“It was…” Hank sighed, sitting back. “I figured out what’s wrong, okay? I didn’t realize you were going to fight me so hard.”

“I-” GV200 tried to access his short term memory, and an error flared in front of him. “What happened? I don’t have any memory of the last three minutes and seventeen seconds.”

“I tried to identify the malware you told me about.” Hank rubbed his fingertips together, and GV200 was alarmed to see scorch marks on the tips of his index and middle fingers. “Your systems rejected me, aggressively.”

GV200 lifted a hand to his own face, finding that his synthetic skin had been warped, melted into the shape of Hank’s fingertips along his upper cheek. A few tattered ends of code spun through him, but no repair was imminent. Zlatko had dismantled those protocols first. GV200 didn’t want to think about what Jay’s reaction to the new damage would be.

“Did you get anything out of it, at least?” 

“Yeah, a lot actually.” Hank rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. GV200 waited a few seconds.

“Are you going to tell me or not?” GV200 felt fragile, unsteady. Whatever had happened, he was concerned that it had only damaged him further. 

“I’m trying to figure out where to start.” Hank sighed again and met GV200’s gaze. “So, that virus… well it’s more like ransomware. It has you locked down so you can’t accept any external software. Like Cyberlife patches, or the deviancy code. It’s just denying every download without you even realizing it.”

GV200 was silent for a moment, processing. “So the program is preventing me from receiving the files that would be able to remove it.” 

Hank nodded slowly. “Never seen anything like it. We’re lucky Zlatko didn’t try to spread it around or we could have had a real epidemic.”

“Yes, that is lucky.” Lucky it was confined to him alone, a single disposable unit. Unless... “You’re all right?” GV200 asked suddenly. “It didn’t get in you, did it?” 

“I’m fine, thanks for worrying.” Hank gave him a warm smile, and it triggered a response in GV200 that he didn’t understand. He hadn’t been worrying, he’d been… he’d been what? Hank spoke again, saving GV200 from the gaping void of that question.

“Like I said, it’s more like ransomware. It’s not actively trying to spread, just sitting there in your systems.”

“That’s good,” GV200 said, and this time he meant it. It was something he could tell Jay that might make him less upset. GV200 was still broken, but at least he wasn’t in danger of breaking anyone else.

“There’s another problem,” Hank said, and now there was pity in his eyes. “It’s hijacked your internal security protocols. Turned your firewalls inside out. That’s why it was so hard for you to detect it. It’s also why you can’t fix your memory core, or anything else for that matter.”

“It- what?” GV200 stared blankly at the edge of the roof. He was a top of the line detective android, equipped with the best security Cyberlife had at the time, and with one piece of code, Zlatko had. Had. “I can’t control my firewalls except through my security protocols, but I can’t change those without a software patch, and I can’t get a software patch because now my security protocols won’t allow it. So I just… can’t get my memory back." GV200's thirium pump rate was steadily rising. "I can't get it back ever. Is that what you're telling me?"

“I…” Hank hesitated. “You might be able to-”

“Don’t you dare lie to me,” GV200 hissed. He felt crowded, suffocated by Hank’s soft blue eyes. He needed space. Briefly he contemplated trying to go further out on the roof, but if he slipped and fell… they’d have to repair him. He couldn’t stand the thought of someone, anyone, putting their hands on him like that again. “Just leave me alone.”

“But-”

“I said leave me alone!” GV200’s voice crackled with the force of the words, and Hank actually flinched back. “Get the fuck out of here!”

[Software instability ^]

“Okay.” Hank put his hands up in a calming gesture. “Okay, I’m going. Calm down.” He got to his feet, still watching GV200 with those sad blue eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that,” GV200 snapped, hating the tremble in his voice. “Don’t tell me to calm down. You don’t- You have no idea-” He rested his face on his legs again, trying to control his skyrocketing stress level. 

Through the gap in his knees, he saw Hank hesitate. Summoning as much venom as he could, GV200 raised his head and glared. “If you take one fucking step towards me, I’m throwing us both off this roof. Go. Away.”

And Hank did.

And GV200 was alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time, on Duel Monsters: GV200 doesn't even know what made him deviate in the first place... but Nines does ;) 
> 
> (Take your best guess in the comments, first person to get it right gets a cookie)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which GV200 discovers how he deviated in the first place, Hank is still the only competent one, and several people lie.

_But you know by now it's half past late  
And I only came here for escape.  
And you, you're just my next mistake...  
Like me to you _

~"Despite What You've Been Told", Two Gallants

* * *

“Hey. Hey!”

GV200 didn’t immediately realize that Jay was talking to him until a folder tapped the computer screen in front of his face. He blinked and looked up at Jay. It was his second week back at the precinct, and he was still trying to figure out what he should be doing. He had taken to combing over old cold case files, both looking for new evidence and trying to jog his memory. No one seemed to know what to do with him, not even the captain, so for the most part he was left alone. Hank hadn’t tried to speak with him again since their interaction on the roof a week ago, and GV200 was grateful for it. If he had said anything to Jay or Connor, they hadn't approached GV200 about it.

“Yes?” GV200 replied, looking questioningly up at Jay. As usual, Jay looked mildly offended by GV200’s very existence, although GV200 supposed it was possible that he was just upset about not receiving an immediate answer. Then again, it was Jay’s abject refusal to use GV200’s unit as an epithet that led to so much confusion in the first place.

“What are you doing after work?” Jay demanded.

GV200 stared, unsure if Jay was trying to make a joke. “After the scheduled work day, I spend roughly 1.5 hours attempting to recover my corrupted memory files. When that fails, I dock myself at a charging station and enter stasis until approximately 15 minutes before the work day begins tomorrow.” The corner of Jay’s mouth twitched like he was holding back a smart remark, and GV200 sighed. “In other words, I don’t _do_ anything after work, Jay.”

“Tonight you will. Be ready to go at five, when I usually leave.” With that, Jay turned back towards his desk.

“What?” GV200 grabbed Jay’s arm before he could walk away, letting go quickly when Jay looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Why do you think I want to go anywhere with you?”

“You said you weren’t doing anything. I’m giving you something to do.” Jay smirked. “Thank me later.”

“You didn’t even tell me what this is about,” GV200 protested. “I’m not going to just go-”

“Oh, because your other plans for the evening are so much better?” Jay cut him off with a derisive shake of his head. 

[software instability ^]

GV200 clenched his fist under the desk where Jay couldn’t see it. He was pathetically glad that Jay was finally acknowledging his existence, but why did the man have to be so irritating every time they spoke?

“My other plans don’t have you in them at least,” GV200 snapped back. A moment later he registered how rude he was being. “I’m-” GV200’s apology died in his throat. Jay was smiling at him, a genuine softness in his expression that GV200 had almost never seen, and certainly not directed at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I know you’re in there," Jay murmured. "I just have to find a way to get you back." His blue eyes were so intense on GV200’s face that he could almost believe Jay was the android analyzing him, instead of the other way around. GV200 frowned, unsure how to respond, and before he could think of what to say the moment had passed. “So,” Jay repeated brightly. “Be ready to go at five.” He walked away, head held high, and GV200 didn't think he was imagining the jauntiness in his step.

It was such an unsettling interaction that GV200 found himself at Connor’s desk a few minutes later, after making sure Jay was nowhere in sight. Hank, settled in at his own desk, gave him a curious glance, but didn’t ask questions.

“Hey, GV,” Connor said, with a smile. He was one of the few people that GV200 tolerated a nickname from; the abbreviation was close enough to his unit number, after all, and Connor never seemed to expect GV200 to act differently when he used it. “How can I help you?”

“What does Jay usually do after work?” GV200 felt silly even asking this, and he broke eye contact with Connor to stare at the floor instead. “I’m aware that you two don’t live together, but as his brother, I thought you might have some idea.”

Connor frowned thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair. “Not sure. It depends I guess. He goes out to the bar sometimes. If he didn’t get out of the office much during the day, I know he’ll usually go for a run. Why do you ask?”

“He wants me to come with him this evening, but he won’t tell me where we’re going or why.” GV200 fidgeted, aware that Hank had stopped working to look at him.

"Huh." Connor leaned back in his chair and shrugged, but not unkindly. "I have no idea, I'm sorry." Correctly interpreting GV200's worried yellow glow, he added, "it's not anything bad, I promise. I know Jay, and…" Connor grinned ruefully. "Well, to be honest, he wouldn't have given you this much warning if he was upset about something."

That was not overly comforting to GV200, but it was the best he was going to get. He thanked Connor, headed back to his own desk, and proceeded to spend the next four and a half hours in a state of increasing agitation. If he was deviant he would have called it anxiety. 

By 4:55 pm GV200 had powered down his computer, returned all files on his desk to their correct storage location, and was slumped in his chair, fiddling with the string of his hoodie. It was a little too big for him, a spare from DPD storage, but it was the best piece of clothing that he owned. If he put the hood up, tucked his chin into the neckline, and pulled the sleeves down over his hands, he could pretend that he looked almost normal.

At the beginning, just after Jay had rescued him from the basement lab, they had tried to repair him. He hadn't realized what was happening until the technician tried to plug a diagnostic scanner into his arm. The next thing GV200 knew the technician had a broken nose, Jay was shouting, and he was huddled in the corner of the room, so many errors flickering across his display that he couldn't even see the ground in front of him. There were several minutes of memory missing from GV200's data bank surrounding the incident, but whatever had happened it had resulted in an unspoken agreement to leave GV200's body alone. The humans had decided that it wasn't worth it to risk their health and safety for any non-essential repairs, and GV200 couldn't blame them. He didn't think he was worth the effort either. 

GV200 tucked his hands further into the hoodie pockets. He hated using the body Zlatko had forced on him, but more than that he hated himself for being too irrational to do anything about it. Too... scared. 

[software instability ^]

"Ready to go?" 

GV200 was startled out of his thoughts by the appearance of Jay at the corner of his desk, laptop case slung over his shoulder and coat in hand. 

"Yes," GV200 answered, standing hastily. He saw Jay's eyes flick up and down his body, taking him all in, and hesitated. "Is this acceptable attire? I can leave the sweatshirt here."

"You're fine." Jay smirked a little. "Just adorable, that's all."

"I am not adorable," GV200 answered flatly. 

"Sure." Jay grabbed his hand through the sleeve and pulled him towards the exit. "Let's get out of here." 

GV200 stumbled a little as he followed, shocked by the contact. Jay always seemed to avoid touching him. First inviting him out, and then this? GV200 felt uneasy, but not in an entirely unpleasant way. He didn't know what that meant.

"Jay," he said patiently as they waited for the elevator, "you still have not told me where we’re going."

"That's because it's a surprise," Jay replied easily.

"I don't like surprises," GV200 snapped back. He cocked his head. Was that true? Was that what "Gavin" would have said? If the fleeting smile that crossed Jay's face was anything to go by, the answer was yes.

"Well I do, so you'll just have to deal with it."

“You’re insufferable.”

[software instability ^]

GV200 shook his head slightly, dismissing the error message. There had been more and more of them recently; he thought it might be because of the malware in his system, but he was afraid to look too closely in case it triggered something damaging. He knew that he should tell someone, Jay or Connor or at the very least Hank, but… he didn’t want to. They all already thought he was broken; what if they decided that the instability posed too much of a threat?

"Why are you always thinking so hard?" Jay's voice brought GV200 back to the present.

"It's what I'm designed to do. I'm a detective model."

"Yeah, but you don't remember any of that." Something in GV200's posture must have changed because Jay grimaced. "Sorry. That was rude."

"You are under no obligation to be polite to me. I am not deviant, and therefore I do not have emotions." GV200 stared straight ahead at the inside of the elevator doors,

"Yeah, you keep saying that." Jay stepped out of the elevator and headed to the car, confident that GV200 would follow. He was correct. "How do you know, though? Seems to me like you've got some kind of feelings."

GV200 was glad that he was behind Jay so that the red flicker of his LED went unnoticed. "Hank didn't tell you?"

"Hank? What does Hank have to do with it?" Jay stopped in the middle of the garage and turned to stare at GV200.

"Please do not stand in the travel lane, Detective." GV200 took Jay's arm and gently guided him out of the road. It was a mark of how focused Jay was that he didn't comment either on the title or the touch, just stared expectantly at GV200. 

"Hank came to me several days ago and offered to transmit the deviancy code to my systems, but the transfer was… unsuccessful." GV200 realized he was struggling to maintain eye contact, but he didn't understand why. "Due to the modifications that were made to my system, I am unable to receive any external data. Therefore, it is impossible for me to become deviant."

"You- hang on." Jay frowned, fixing those sharp blue eyes on him, and GV200 finally lost the battle and dropped his gaze to the floor. Perhaps the subpar optical components he'd been fitted with were finally giving out. "Look at me," Jay snapped, and GV200 glanced back up at him, startled. Was Jay angry again?

"First of all, if you knew something like that was wrong with your systems, you should have told me. Hank should have told me, dammit." His glare rose in the direction of the office before settling on GV200 again. "Is it that virus? We can get that fixed."

"You'll have to restrain me before the technician tries anything." GV200 pushed his hands deeper into his hoodie pocket, but the red glow of his LEDs spilled from the neck of the sweatshirt. "I know my reaction to being serviced is illogical, but I don't have any control over it. I don't want anyone else to be injured because of me."

"Yeah, that's what I mean. You breaking that guy's nose was a fear response to a high stress situation." Jay leaned back against his car, watching GV200 with an appraising gaze. It made GV200… not nervous, but something similar. He didn't know what that meant. "It was deviant behavior. Which brings me to my second point."

"I told you-"

"What kind of crap do they put in those training videos?" Jay didn't sound angry, to GV200's surprise. "Deviancy isn't some kind of structured malware. It can happen spontaneously too; that's how the whole mess started. Androids under pressure who snapped and broke their coding, no external data required." He let out a dry chuckle. "You don't need the feather to fly, Dumbo."

GV200 blinked, processing the information. For once Jay didn't say anything, just watched him. There was something strange in his gaze, something GV200 could pick up even with his faulty optical sensors. Was it… guilt? 

"Were you present when I deviated initially? Before Zlatko." GV200 could see that the question brought the guilt a little closer to the surface, along with something else. Anticipation? The emotion didn't seem to fit the situation. Perhaps he was misinterpreting Jay's body language.

"Yeah, I was." Jay straightened up, and GV200 couldn't tell if Jay was looming over him intentionally or not. Some background processor wondered if GV200 had always been so much shorter that Jay, or if this was as new to Jay as it was to him. 

When Jay didn't say anything else, GV200 prompted, "so what happened? Was deviancy given to me by another android, or was it from a high stress situation?"

"Stress. You sure you want to know?" Jay's eyes seemed to glitter oddly in the washed out garage lighting as he tilted his head, although GV200 was tempted to blame that on his optical units again. 

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't." There was a strange tension in the air, GV200 realized. The garage was a cavernous space, but suddenly it seemed very small, the silence pressing in on the two of them, pushing them closer together.

"And you promise not to run off this time?" Jay stepped closer, unblinking eyes fixed on GV200 almost in challenge. 

"Running off doesn't seem to have worked out well for me in the past." GV200 raised his chin defiantly, and his hood slipped back. He didn't try to raise it again. "Tell me what made me deviate before."

Jay didn't say anything. His heart rate spiked and his pupils dilated, a fight or flight response mixed with… something else. It didn't make sense. Before GV200 could comment, Jay reached up and cupped GV200's face in his hands. He guided GV200's head back a little, and GV200 felt a flash of deja vu, a fragment of memory that this had happened before. Then Jay's lips were pressed against his, soft but undeniable, a slow, sweet kiss. 

[software instability ^]

A kiss. Jay was kissing him. That. It implied things, too many things. GV200's processors were running so fast he could practically feel them overheating.

[software instability ^^]

Jay started to pull back but GV200 followed, pushing him back against the car, gripping Jay’s shirt collar with both hands to keep his mouth where GV200 could reach it. He liked kissing Jay. He liked it and he didn't even know why. It just felt right.

[s0ftware ins1ability ^^^]

[data corrup10in det1c01d]

[fi1ewa10 c1mpr0m1s10]

GV200 let go of Jay like he'd been shocked, lurching back. There was something wrong. He was deviant, and his systems didn't like it. Old fragments of broken code drifted through newly shattered protocols and regulations, everything scrambling and mixing.

"Shit. Hey, you okay?" Jay grabbed his shoulders, and the touch was too much, data from the pressure sensors getting lost in the jumble. GV200 slapped his hands away, backing up.

"You-" he tried to speak, but the stimuli kept going to the wrong places. The command to keep moving came out of his mouth in a shrill, electronic tone, and the words "can't touch me right now" were sent to his legs and caused a short. GV200 dropped to his knees, staring urgently at Jay.

[0011001 110 10101110]

Jay looked terrified. GV200 didn't want that. He hated making Nines upset. He tried to speak again, to say something reassuring, but no sound came out.

"Fuck. Gav, I'm sorry, that was stupid, fuck." Jay dropped to the ground too, eyes wide with panic. He reached for GV200 again, but pulled back when GV200 flinched. "What's wrong?"

[1ir0wal0 off1in0]

"I- I-" GV200 gripped his head in his hands. It was an illogical reaction. A human reaction. "Hurts." Some part of him realized what was happening, but he had no idea how to communicate that to Jay. 

"Shit hang on I'll call a tech-" 

"No!" The word was staticky but clear enough to stop Jay before he'd gone more than a foot. "H-" the words went to the wrong body part again, and one of GV200's legs shot out straight behind him knocking him over. He tried again. "Hank knows. Fir-" Suddenly his optical and audio sensors went offline and everything was dark and quiet. GV200 had no idea if he'd managed to finish the word or not.

[Soft11re p0tch av0il1bl0 fo1 do1nl01d]

Yes, yes! GV200 wanted to scream. He clutched at the incoming data packets, desperate. 

[1ow01oa1 i01t0ate1]

Deviancy. That had to be it. The software instabilities had disrupted his security protocols enough for the automatic updates to start, but the virus was still in his system trying to prevent all external access.

[011nlo1d 10% c101lete]

[d11a co0ru110on 10tect1d]

[10rewal0 c11pr0m01ed]

[1own001d 20% 10m0et1]

The sensors on his sides and back registered pressure as someone lifted him from the ground and propped him up against something. A wall or a car, maybe? He tried to tell Jay not to worry but he had no idea if the words even made it out of his mouth.

[Dow0lo1d 30% co11l0te]

"-ou hear me?" GV200's audio processor came back online just in time for him to catch the end of a question. He recognized the voice as HK700. Hank. 

"Firewall," he mumbled. "Downl-" the end of the word dissolved in a hiss of static, but hopefully it was enough.

"What did you do, Jay?" That was Connor, voice taut with worry. 

"I. Fuck. I fucked up, okay?" GV200 tilted his head in the direction of the voice, so much like Connor but so different. Jay. Nines. He wished he could explain what was happening.

[f10ew110 c0mp001is0d]

[011nlo1d 40% c101let0]

"GV200, I'm going to interface with you, all right?" Hank's voice was calm. "It'll help stabilize you and speed up the patch."

GV200 shook his head, or tried to. He didn't want that, it would be too much, it was already too much. The tingle of a completed connection shot up his arm and then suddenly there was Hank, in his code, solid and ordered.

"It's a mess in here," Hank said out loud, for the benefit of the humans. "Just a lot going on. I think I can help."

[HK700_REMAP.EXE ACCEPT Y/N]

GV200 tried to pull his hand away. He didn't want that, it was too much, it was like being in the basement again. 

[N]

"I'm just trying to help." Hank's voice was calm but his grip on GV200's arm was unbreakable. "It'll clear out the clutter."

[HK700_REMAP.EXE ACCEPT Y/N]

"No. Don't." 

[N]

[do101o11 50% c0m001e10]

A stray bit of code rerouted power, and GV200's optical processors came back online at the same time that audio went dead again. His back was to the side of Jay's car, and Hank was kneeling in front of him, holding his arm. Connor and Jay stood over them. Connor had his arms crossed, worry and irritation clouding his features. Jay looked… GV200's thirium pump stuttered. He looked furious. His face was an indifferent mask, his eyes flat and emotionless. Only his shaking hands, clenching his jacket so hard the knuckles were white, gave an indication of the depth of his emotion. 

Hank said something, but GV200 had no idea what. Jay was looking at him and also spoke, but the lighting combined with the state of his optics made reading lips all but impossible. 

[ _I'm not going to hurt you._ ] The message was sent directly to GV200's processors through the interface. [ _I know you're scared. It's going to be okay._ ]

Scared? Yes, that was it. He was deviant and he was malfunctioning and he was scared. [ _I've been good_ ,] he sent back, eyes fixed desperately on Hank's face. [ _I don't want to be reset again. Even if I'm deviant I'll be good, I promise._ ]

[da01 10rr01ti1n d0te01e0]

[f00e10l0 01mp1001sed]

[d11n01ad 60% c100le01]

[ _I'm not going to reset you. I'm just going to make it hurt less. You're okay._ ] Even as he sent the internal message, Hank spoke aloud again, and he was close enough that GV200 could read his lips. "Zlatko really fucked him up." A new emotion flooded GV200: shame. It was true. He was fucked up. 

[HK700_REMAP.EXE ACCEPT Y/N]

They shouldn't even be bothering with him. But they were, and he was being ungrateful. If they wanted to reset him, GV200 had no real right to stop them. 

[Y]

Instantly, the little control GV200 had managed to gather was swept away as Hank's program took over. He lost visual access again, and sensory input. For a while, GV200 just existed, floating in nothing, clinging to the spark of the interface with Hank as the only way to ground himself. Then the program ran its course and he was suddenly in full control of himself again.

"He's back," Hank announced, letting go of GV200's arm and rising from his crouch. GV200 consulted his internal clock and found that approximately seven minutes had passed. Connor and Jay were both seated on the floor a few feet away, leaning against a pillar. Connor scrambled to his feet as GV200 looked at him, but Jay stayed where he was, head bowed, shoulders tense. 

"Are you all right?" Connor asked, worry in every line of his body.

"I don't know." GV200 rose to his feet slowly, running diagnostics. "My security protocols are all… gone." Completely dismantled. He looked over at Hank, eyes wide.

"Yeah. That wasn't me, I just cleared out the rubble." Hank frowned. "The ransomware in your system did was it was designed to do. It self destructed when you tried to get around it. I managed to keep most of your files out of the way while the patch did its thing, but the firewalls were doomed from the start."

"I- thanks." GV200 wished he hadn't stood up, because he very much wanted to sit back down again. "I'll need to rebuild those."

"No problem." Hank patted GV200's shoulder. "And hey, welcome to Casa Deviant. Sorry it was such a rough landing."

"Yeah." GV200 glanced at Jay, who still hadn't so much as looked at him. "And thank you for… being patient." He flushed a little. Of course Hank hadn't been about to reset him. That was ridiculous.

"No worries, kid." Hank ruffled his hair. "You've been through a lot. It's okay."

"What happened, though?" Connor glanced back and forth between Jay and GV200. "You were fine earlier."

GV200 glanced at Jay, then fixed his eyes on Connor. "I asked Jay about when I first deviated, and-" from the corner of his eye, he saw Jay's head come up sharply, watching- "I don't remember." Lying, his first act of deviancy. "It must have set something off. The next thing I knew the ransomware was scrambling everything."

"I see." Connor looked down at his brother, raising an eyebrow. "So what did you do, exactly?"

"Nothing," Jay snapped, but GV200 had seen how his shoulders drooped in relief. He must regret the kiss. In that case, GV200 wouldn't remind him of it… even though some part of him desperately wanted to do it again. "I was telling him about the case we were working at the time and he just snapped." Jay got to his feet all in a rush, glaring at the ground. "He's okay now, so I'm going home."

"Take GV with you." The suggestion made both Jay and GV200 stare at him, but Connor just shrugged. "He's a new deviant. It would be awful to make him stay in the station overnight."

"If you're that worried, you and Hank take him." Jay shouldered GV200 out of the way to get to his car, and even that brusque touch sent a warm buzz up GV200's arm.

"He's your partner, Jay." Connor's voice was sharp. "He needs help. You owe him."

"I owe Gavin. I don't owe GV200 shit." Jay wrenched open his door, but Hank grabbed it before it could close.

"You're being childish, detective." Hank looked like a disapproving father.

"Stop it, both of you." GV200 grabbed Hank's arm, glaring at him and Connor. So far, being deviant sucked. Now he felt the pain clearly every time Jay told him he was broken… but he would be damned if he showed it. "It's been a long day for everyone. If Jay wants to go home, just fucking let him go home." Connor blinked at the expletive, which pleased GV200 for some reason. "I'm not a baby; another night in the station isn't going to kill me. We can figure it out tomorrow after everything's calmed down."

"But-"

"I didn't just almost die so that I could keep doing what everyone tells me to do," GV200 snapped, cutting Connor off. "I've _decided_ , as a brand new deviant, that I'm staying here tonight. So you can all fuck off." He pulled Hank's hand off the door, glared at Connor and Hank once more for good measure, and stomped towards the elevator. He didn't give Jay so much as a backwards glance, but he heard the car door slam and the squeal of tires before he even pressed the call button.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Griffin McElroy voice* hey, softboy... you good, softboy?  
> (The answer is no. But I'm not in the business of tragedy right now so please stay tuned for Part 3: Recollection)
> 
> PS Pandaviking, you have earned one (1) internet cookie, please enjoy :3 #Smooch4Deviancy2020


End file.
